How Did I Get Here?

Kevin Hartz

Partner, Founders Fund
from
  • Education
  • Miramonte High School, Orinda, Calif., class of 1988
  • Stanford, class of 1992
  • University of Oxford, class of 1993
  • Work Experience
  • 1994–95
    Research assistant, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
  • 1995–97
    Product manager, Silicon Graphics
  • 1998–99
    Co-founder, Connect Group
  • 1998–Present
    Angel investor
  • 1999–2001
    Principal, Outlook Ventures
  • 2001–05
    Co-founder and chief executive officer, Xoom
  • 2005–16
    Co-founder and CEO, Eventbrite
  • 2016–Present
    Partner, Founders Fund
  • Life Lessons
  • “Set an extremely high bar for talent. Never compromise on the team.”
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  • “Most companies don’t grow at breakneck speed.”
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  • “Senior year I forged a letter from the principal saying that the school would be closed because of asbestos. I got suspended the last five days, which was one of the most wonderful things to ever happen. People said the letter was too well-written to be from the administration.”
  • In Belize, 1987
    “I worked in a neurology research lab where I got exposed to the internet and programming. It was love at first sight.”
  • “I invested in Fieldlink, which became PayPal and took off just when everything was melting down in 2001.”
  • “Ticketing was the last bastion of commerce characterized by high fees, poor customer service, and a lack of innovation. My wife is a co-founder—we had our first child at the same time we hired our first employee. She’s now the CEO.”
  • Hartz with his wife, Julia, his daughter, and Eventbrite staff, 2010
  • “I’m excited to focus full time on an old and growing passion of mine: investing in people and transformational technologies.”
  • “I got to know the PayPal mafia: Peter Thiel, Keith Rabois, David Sacks. I was their token liberal friend.”
  • With YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim (center) and Rabois, 2009
  • “I was product manager for a 3D web browser—you would surf through immersive spaces. It was way ahead of its time. Alan Braverman, who I started Xoom with in 2001, was an engineer there.”
  • “I reunited with Alan and started an international money transfer company, but I was asked to step down [as CEO]. I was crushed by that. People I trusted advised me to move on to something new. I sat on the board until 2015: We sent $6.5 billion to 30 countries in 2014.”
  • PayPal acquired Xoom in 2015 for $890 million